The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-09-17

Oiu WAL W EeIlcW MS yOuIIl, IIk'
the eagle"
When the season comes you viii
see the man of books slip out O
the house, habited in an extra seedy
pair Of trusers, booted in an indie
scribable pair of clogs that would
be the envy of the man who wants
to kick his creditor to Coventry
On his head is a mouldy relic of q
hat, on his shoulder rests a mighty
AK, and evil is in his eagle eye
Behold, the ak will soon be laid to
the root of the tree and another
hoary giant will soon lie low.
The liberal clubs of Lancashire
and Cheshire often invite them.
selves to picnic in Hawarden park,
but permission is rarer than it used
to be. The merrymakers always
insisted on a speech, until the thing
became a nuisance. But the work
ing folk from the country side are
welcomed occasionally, and the
farmers gather to pay their rents,
eat the good fare provided by their
landlord, and then Mr.. Gladstone
doesn't mind treating them to a bit
of homely oratory, generally in
structing them how to make bigger
incomes by growing more fruit for
jam, or tickling their hens to send
more eggs to market.
So the days and the years roll
around, and the grand old specimen
of English manhood ripens into
the harvest. His hairs are scantier
and his wrinkles more than they
were last year, but the glow is in the
brilliant eye and the fire slacks not
in his heart. Come from the Haw-
arden home. with its reign Of peace
and its halo of glory around the
loving fireside circle, come to the
place where thousands strive for
the prize Of seeing and hearing
Gladstone the orator, Gladstone the
magician, who charms the people.
l recall the greatest assemblage he,
Or probably any other man ever
addressed by the hour together, and
held them riveted. That was at
Birmingham ten years ago, when
$4,000 men gathered in the cattle
show hall, and greeted Gladstone
as though he were king.
His pale face, nervously COM
pressed lips, and intensely earnest
expression would impress the audi
ence as betokening physical weak
ness, but the flashing, piercing eyes
kindle everyone with the contagious
fire of enthusiasm. His rich, So
norous voice soon reaches the outer
fringe of the multitude, and in a
few moments the feeling is that of
being completely un Ter the spell! of
a wizard in the arts Of speech.
have heard most of his great
speeches in London and in the
provinces, and on literary and So
cial topics as well as political. 1t
is no detraction from his worth or
powers to confess that-after the
first twenty minutes or so-his habit
of drifting into long and involved
sentences becomes wearisome, un-
less the subject is exciting. In any
speech it will be found that many
of his middle sentences contain
from $50 to 22O words. John
Bright's sentences are always crisp,
clear and easy to grasp. He never
by any chance allows attention to
flag. But Gladstone's perOrating,
though classical in style and made
up of Latinized words, always re-
kindle enthusiasm and you forget
the less forceful passages.
Despite his refusals / should not
be the least surprised if Mr.. Glad
stone suddenly takes it into his
head one fine morning next spring
to pop over to the states. He has
startled his friends by good many
momentous changes of mind. He
always spoke kindly of the Amer
lean people, except, perhaps, in
two matters. He told the Newcas-
tie liberals in 1866 that he was glad
to foresee that "the south will make
itself a nation" And in his hot
youth he was a vigorous defender
of slavery. 1t must be remembered
that his father was a West Indian
slave owner, who got $34O,OO COM
pensation from the English public
purse when slavery was abolished.
Apart from the present phase of
the irish question, which is not my
intention to touch upon, Mr.. Glad
stone has had a strong admiration
for and faith in the American peo-
pie. 1t may be we'll to quote him
on this. In 1873 he wrote in the
North American Review: "The
constitution is, as far as
/ can see, the most wonderful work
ever struck off at given time by
the brain and purpose of man."
Again, "The United States can, and
probably will, wrest from us { Eng
lish) our commercial prosperity. l
have no inclination to murmur at
the prospect. America is passing
US by in a canter." With the sharp
d;v;s;on of English parties. and the |